Light weight oil

[RoadCyclist]

Time for an oil change-what is considered a lightweight oil? I have read lightweight oils are more efficient and better in winter.

My car has 5w 20 in it now. Is that considered light, and if not, what oil is?

Thanks

[oil pan 4]

I wouldn't try to go any thinner than that 5w-20 oil.
There was a Cummins diesel report that I read showing they only charted a 3% fuel economy difference between 15w-40 and 5w-20 oils.
And they found the 5w-20 oiled engines had much higher wear rates in the valve train.
Doesn't seem worth it to run thinner oil. The only 0w-20 oil I know of is amsoil and their oil is 3 to 4 times the price of department store 5w-20 oil.

[Ecky]

I'm currently waiting on 4 liters of Honda NEXT oil, ordered from Japan. My thread here:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...oil-34506.html

Ravenol sells a 0w16 which you can find on Amazon, but it's pretty expensive. In the US, Honda recommends Penzoil Platinum 0w20, which is a bit thinner than Mobile One 0w20. Honda's Green Oil is around a w20 when hot, but thinner than a 0w (~32 vs 40 cSt ) when cold. NEXT is extremely thin, something like a w12 or w8 when hot, and MUCH thinner than anything else I could find when cold (~20 cSt).

[Joggernot]

I get my 0W-20 from O'Reilly's Auto store. Not usually out on display, but Mobil 0W-20 is in the back and they will get it for me when I request it. I went to 0W-20 after about 150k miles at 5W-30 oil (now 281k) and have had no problems. I use it in both the Tacoma and the Accord.

[RoadCyclist]

Are some filters more efficient than others?

[oil pan 4]

Depth filters are far more efficient than surface filters and for much longer time.

[hayden55]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

I wouldn't try to go any thinner than that 5w-20 oil.
There was a Cummins diesel report that I read showing they only charted a 3% fuel economy difference between 15w-40 and 5w-20 oils.
And they found the 5w-20 oiled engines had much higher wear rates in the valve train.
Doesn't seem worth it to run thinner oil. The only 0w-20 oil I know of is amsoil and their oil is 3 to 4 times the price of department store 5w-20 oil.

Eh... I kinda agree on the jurastic oil difference above but going from 10w30 to 0w30 would be a welcome change. From what i've read as acceptable oil for the 90s Hondas, Honda recommends 5w30 (since they only sell 5w30, 0w20, 0w16). Pennzoil 0w20 was the thinnest 0w20 with the lowest 100 degree cst (even lower than mobil 1 (2) and amsoil (3) ). So I would follow suit with Pennzoil platinum 0w30 from Walmart. Cost effective as well vs shelling out dough for some crazy fancy oil for a 94 accord lol2

[bandit86]

Very good video on cold weather operation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWiQyR7PWII&sns=em

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETKECO86VS4&sns=em

[LeanBurn]

In the cold, synthetic oil is king. One grade up or down from your factory oil grade suggestions play a very small part in fuel economy savings. Pushing sub zero air while bombing down the highway, greater heater/defrost/A/C use is always going to yield worse numbers.